STATE TIMES NEWS
Jammu: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said his Bharat Jodo Yatra has achieved success in “changing the narrative” in the country and brought crores of people together to denounce hatred and spread the message of love.
He alleged that the BJP and the RSS have created an atmosphere of hatred in the country and said suppressing or frightening people cannot stop the truth from coming out.
Digvijaya’s remarks on surgical strikes ridiculous: Rahul
Jhajjar Kotli/ Jammu: Snubbing Digvijaya Singh for questioning surgical strikes, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday termed his comments “ridiculous” and said the armed forces are doing their job “exceptionally well” and do not need to give any proof.
Gandhi, who faced a volley of questions from the media on Singh’s remarks on surgical strikes and the Pulwama terror attack, said he and the party completely disagreed with his statement. “There are people who will say ridiculous things during conversation. I am sorry to say so about a senior leader, he said a ridiculous thing,” Gandhi told a press conference here.
“We have full trust in our army. If army performs any task, there is no need to give any proof. I completely disagree with his statement and this is the official position of the Congress party that it is personal point of view of Digvijaya Singh,” he added.
Singh on Monday had questioned the surgical strikes and accused the government of peddling lies.
Addressing a public meeting during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir, Singh alleged that the government did not agree to the CRPF request of flying its personnel from Srinagar to Delhi and 40 soldiers sacrificed their lives in Pulwama in 2019 to a terror attack.
“They talk of surgical strikes. They claim to have killed so many people but no proof is given. They are ruling by peddling a bundle of lies,” the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister, who has often courted controversy with his comments, said.
Asked about action being taken by the Congress against Singh, Gandhi said the Congress is a democratic party and “not a dictatorship”.
“The yatra has achieved something fundamental, very powerful and what the yatra has done cannot be changed. It has shown that there are two visions of India, one is hate-filled, arrogant and cowardly and another is love-filled, embracing and brave. It (yatra) has made these two visions absolutely crystal clear,” Gandhi told a press conference here.
“Millions of people have walked in support of this yatra, which has changed the narrative in the country. The fundamental fact is that the yatra has been successful and brought India together and shown Indian people believe much more in love and affection,” Gandhi said. He said the sole aim of the yatra is to unite the people against the atmosphere of hatred “created by the BJP and the RSS across the country” and concentration of wealth to a chosen few resulting in inflation and unemployment.
“We have a good yatra which is concluding in the next few days. We learnt a lot from it,” he said. On the controversial BBC documentary ‘India: The Modi Question’, the Congress leader quoted Hindu religious books and said that the truth cannot be hidden. “The truth always comes out even if you ban, suppress the press, control the institutions, use CBI, ED. Still, the truth shines bright. It has the nasty habit of coming out. So no amount of banning or frightening people can stop the truth from coming out,” he said.
Responding to a question about the recent statement of the defence minister that Gandhi is spreading hatred to gain power and tarnishing India’s image on international platforms, he said his heart is not filled with hatred.
“I do not understand how the padyatra across the country that unites the people, bringing them together is harming the interests of India. I can see how hatred and violence the Rajnath Singh’s party is spreading, harming communities, castes and genders and defaming the nation,” he said.
